Transaction Hygiene and Fees

9 min readinteractiveIncludes quiz · 8 questions

Keep your payments safe, private, and cheap. Use fresh addresses, pick the right fee, and always verify on your device screen before sending.

Simple definitions (plain English):

  • •Fee (sat/vB): What you pay miners to include your tx. Measured in satoshis per virtual byte. Higher sat/vB = faster.
  • •Mempool: The public waiting room for transactions before they get into a block.
  • •RBF (Replace-By-Fee): Resend the same transaction with a higher fee to speed it up (only if you opted in).
  • •CPFP (Child-Pays-For-Parent): Spend your stuck transaction’s change with a high fee so miners include both.
  • •Change output: The "leftover" sent back to yourself as a new coin (UTXO).
  • •Dust: Coins so tiny they cost more to spend than they’re worth.
  • •SegWit/Bech32 (bc1…): Modern address format that lowers fees and reduces errors.

Picking the right fee (fast vs cheap):

1) Decide your target: next block (~10m), within an hour, or later today. 2) Check a mempool explorer for suggested sat/vB. 3) Choose priority in your wallet: High/Medium/Low often maps to those targets. 4) If not urgent, wait for low‑traffic times (often weekends) to save money.

Privacy & hygiene essentials:

  • •Never reuse addresses; new address each receive.
  • •Verify the full address and amount on your hardware screen.
  • •Prefer bc1 (Bech32) addresses and SegWit/Taproot sends for lower fees.
  • •Avoid merging lots of small coins during high fees; consolidate when fees are low.
  • •Consider coin control to choose which UTXOs you spend.

Lower your fees smartly:

  • •Use SegWit/Taproot outputs (bc1…); they shrink tx size.
  • •Batch payments: multiple recipients in one tx = fewer bytes overall.
  • •Consolidate tiny UTXOs on quiet weekends so future sends are cheaper.
  • •Use Lightning for small, instant payments and avoid on‑chain fees.

Fixing stuck transactions (step‑by‑step):

RBF: If your wallet shows the tx as replaceable, use “Increase fee/Bump fee,” pick a higher sat/vB, and resend.

CPFP: If RBF isn’t available, spend the change output from the stuck tx with a high fee; miners include both together.

Rebroadcast: If your tx was dropped from some nodes, rebroadcast from your wallet or your own node.

Safety checklist before sending:

  • •Scan QR but still confirm first and last 4 characters.
  • •Check the exact amount (BTC or sats) and the network fee.
  • •Confirm the receive address on your hardware device screen.
  • •For large amounts, send a $5 test first, then the rest after one confirmation.
Fee Selection
Fee Selection

Test Your Knowledge

This lesson includes a 8-question quiz (passing score: 75%).

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